‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Recap: ‘Go It Alone’

This week, the winner of the Harper Avery Award is announced, Derek attempts to juggle his hectic life, and April questions her decision to marry Jackson.

Cristina Yang:Grey’s Anatomy is wrapping up Cristina Yang’s last moments on the show, and it only gets more emotional by the minute. The anticipated Harper Avery Award Ceremony is only one day away, which means Cristina needs to write her acceptance speech. The four other candidates are super heroes too, of course, but we all know Cristina will win – she is the rock star of all surgeons.

Unfortunately her speech writing must wait, as her patients are dropping like flies. The three patients she has been treating, who are all siblings and all diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, are rejecting their hearts and deteriorating one by one. Cristina cannot figure out why this is happening or how to treat them.

She seems to manage and is able to get them stable before heading off on a plane to Boston by herself. She insists that she wants to go alone, and part of that may be due to her inner fear of losing. As she kicks Meredith and Owen back in to the hospital, Cristina hops in a cab during the early morning of her big day.

Finally, she has made it to Boston. She is dressed and ready with a glass of champagne in hand. Cristina always appears to be calm and collected, mainly because she has to be. But, she calls Meredith in a panic, realizing nobody can go through something this big alone. The moment is here. We have to sit anxiously through the long introductory speech, only to hear a name that is unmemorable and sounds nothing like Cristina Yang. Cristina’s face flushes and turns flat — she didn’t win.

Derek & Meredith: Derek Shepherd is trying to balance the world. Between his wife, kids, the White House, surgeries, and interns, he just can’t seem to manage. Finally, he compromises. Derek decides to stay up through the night, like everyone else in this episode, to complete a tricky surgery that he has been putting off and constantly rescheduling.

The interns get to scrub in on a procedure to fix a woman’s brain that will help her from having any more seizures. They, too, get to scrub in to remove a pair of scissors from man’s skull, which Jo Wilson eagerly volunteers for. She is the strongest one of the bunch, and her ortho practice is definitely going to good use.

Through all of Derek’s teachings, he completely spaced on picking up his own children from daycare. He failed to answer any of Meredith’s phone calls and didn’t even think to tell her where her children were. Our beloved power couple is losing their strength, and something has got to give. Neither one of them want to sacrifice their work, but they can’t afford to sacrifice their job as parents either. They will have some big decisions to make in the near future.

Callie & Arizona: We all know these two have already settled in to a new house and decided they will be having a second child. But, the next big decision they must face is choosing who will actually carry and give birth to their next child. Callie fairly assumes that she will be doing it, but now Arizona is raising the question of, why not her? They ultimately decide to flip a coin for it. It is the easiest and most fair thing to do. Just as the coin hits the air, Arizona’s mind switches to fright, and so, Callie will be pregnant once more!

April & Jackson: Meanwhile, April and Jackson Avery have the night off after they repair a wound on a little girl’s face. Together, they consult a young, deaf, girl, who was attacked by her dog. Jackson suggests to her parents that she get a cochlear implant, since she is young and could gain some of her hearing back.

However, her parents strongly dismiss this idea. Her mother is deaf as well, and they do not want their daughter feeling as though she is disabled and needs fixing. They embrace being deaf and really appreciate what God has given to them. April actually agrees with their decision, even though Jackson thinks it is absurd.

This leads to a fight that is strong enough to threaten their marriage. Their argument begins with a disagreement on whether or not they would allow their hypothetical child to get a cochlear implant, but it quickly escalates to the real problem at hand — their rushed marriage was never based on the same beliefs.

The truth is Jackson has a hard time believing that April’s God is real, and the reality of the situation is April cannot live with or be married to someone who does not share the same beliefs as her. This could put an end to their relationship once and for all.